tawandamusarurwa
Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
WHEN you drive through many residential or city areas, you are touched by the plight of the poor.
What is most touching is coming to a halt at a traffic light and a little child who should be in school presses his/her nose on the driver’s window with tearful eyes, chapped lips, torn clothes and an outstretched begging hand.
Sometimes, in the place of the child, there is a mother, with a baby strapped on her back, begging her way through life.
At other times, it is a disabled person being led by a juvenile, who should be in school.
This scene plays out over and over again every day in many places. Sometimes, the cases are genuine, and at other times, it is unfortunate because begging would have become an addictive but rewarding enterprise. For some, it is easier and more appealing to beg than to work or think and have a valuable product or service to offer.
As your drive off the traffic stop light, you are wrenched within but feel powerless, confused and conflicted.
I find myself full of questions like: How did we get to this?
Should I give or I am encouraging more begging?
Is this life? How do we bring change or hope?
How could we make a meaningful difference?
Before it is an act, begging is a spirit and mindset.
The “beggar spirit” plays out at many levels: personal, family, organisational, country and regional.
The roots of this spirit are self-pity, laziness and always thinking that other people are responsible for your fate.
Some people go through life thinking that they are victims and someone owes them something because of their condition, circumstances or history.
They expect someone to feel pity for them and carry their burden through life’s gates while they stroll along to the march of the donor’s music band of the time.
All change starts by taking responsibility and taking personal and extreme ownership of your situation.
Nothing changes by being looked at and complained about.
Thinking like a victim disables creativity and innovation. It also blinds transformative vision.
No excuse is ever good enough. Things do not change because you count yourself among the less fortunate, and glorify your miseries and feel you deserve showers of pity.
Change only comes through taking responsibility and challenging yourself to be better than you were.
Unless that internal push is there, no one can push you further than where you are.
Greatness demands you go beyond where you have been pushed to.
What you have
It is easy to think that other people are better endowed and favoured than you are. You may feel excused to wish and expect that some people will set up an endowment trust, with you as the beneficiary because life has treated them better.
All meaningful change starts with changing the mindset.
The shared mindset of many people in a given area or context is what we call culture.
Culture can easily be a prison, instead of being an aid to greatness.
It is easier to think other people are better resourced and your own circumstances deserve special attention and merited mention.
These are dangerous thoughts that crucify potential.
Greatness starts when you swallow this fact: No one owes you a living and you are not a victim.
Start looking at everything you have and giving it value. It is sad to have other people see value in you while you do not see value in yourself or what you do.
There is opportunity everywhere and the best eye-opener is taking personal responsibility to make a difference.
Victims clog the innovation pipeline and short-circuit creativity and bold action.
Make a difference
Value comes when you also give value.
It all starts in little things and little ways.
Make a difference every day and in every way.
When you are not making a difference, you cannot expect to receive any meaningful value.
In everything you do, seek to make a difference that matters.
Be too effective to be ignored and too relevant to be chucked aside.
Are you hungry?
There is an opportunity everywhere. Sunshine in Africa is never rationed. It shines on all surfaces but it is only the polished surfaces that will reflect the light.
Polish your offering and let it show that you are hungry to make your mark and offer your service or product to the world.
Greatness is never an accident and stumbling on greatness is rare.
There is abundance everywhere.
The cake is always too big for any one person to finish it.
While the cake of life is so big, it can only be eaten by those who are hungry for it.
Actions are silent prayers and affirmations.
They are the best interpreters of thought.
Actions that do not show that you are hungry for your place in the sun will leave you blistered with lack.
Called to run
Every day you wake up is a different day filled with new opportunity, hope and fresh frontiers.
Parking in the past makes you history. Do not dwell on the memoirs of the past; instead, focus on the visions and possibilities of the future. Instead of being driven by shortage and greed, be animated by love and abundance.
There is no constant in life. You are either growing or dying; becoming better or bitter.
Wake up every day with a resolve to run, lift other people and make a difference.
Past races do not count in today’s contest.
Past relevance does not guarantee future significance.
If you are not running, never delude yourself that the race is over. Your daily mantra should be: “Run, run and keep running!”
Life is a marathon, not a mere sprint.
You never enter a race looking for the pity of the judge or spectators. The Olympics of life will never excuse you because of your geography, origin or other special personal circumstances.
Take personal responsibility.
Life is not a big pity party. Keep running to your greatness.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author and a virtual, hybrid and in-person workshop facilitator. He can be reached at: [email protected]
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